Froggie went a-storytelling

Today's storytime theme was "Frogs", inspired by the spring peepers who are deafening anyone outside after dark. I pulled on my Frog socks, pinned on my Frog pin, picked up my Frog puppet, and grabbed my split-page Frog book.
Thanks to my family, I am ready to present Frogs to preschoolers!

Happy Anniversary

Has it been six years already?

Was it only six years ago?

Happy Anniversary!

The weary warriors return

In the airport parking lot, a crowd began to gather.

The bagpipers practiced their piping.

The breeze was brisk so most of us waited in our cars until the word came that they were 10 minutes out.

There's the plane, home again safely.

It was a long full day and they were glad to be back.

Granddad had a great time. Motorcycle police with lights and sirens escorted them to the WW II memorial. They heard thank you speeches from a General and a Vice-Admiral. They saw the National Cemetery at Arlington, and because it was raining they had a long bus tour of it. Granddad took pictures with a little disposable camera, and I'll have to get them developed to share with you. He couldn't believe he'd only been gone one day.

The best part, he said - and the most unexpected - was the crowds that greeted them at every stop. "They wanted to shake my hand" he said in bemusement. "And I got kissed by two pretty girls!"

The adventure begins

In the early morning before dawn, a special group gathered at the airport. Their Boeing 737 was waiting on the runway.
The waiting room filled up slowly with a hundred special men - WWII veterans.
They are on their way to Washington to see their memorial.
They introduced themselves and asked each other "How old are you?"
Granddad was ready for an adventure.
He'll have some new stories to tell when he gets home tonight.

A Sure Sign of Spring

The Farmer's Market has been open for several cold and chilly Saturdays. We weren't tempted. But this week Saturday was sunny and warm so Granddad and I made our ceremonial First Market appearance.It was difficult to resist bright blooms and fresh young plants.
Granddad knew just exactly what he wanted - and now his garden is off to a fine start.

Poetry

Happy National Poetry Month! Today I watched classes of fourth graders enjoy some contemporary poems as the Library Intern took a turn teaching.
The library was loud as they laughed reading the poems he'd picked out, then wrote a "folded poem" which they randomly created passing paper around the table.
They will certainly go away thinking they enjoy poetry...
but I do wish they knew that all poems don't have to use either the words "underwear" or "toilet".

Proof

I may not be their regular librarian, but I can prove to the kids that I am a REAL librarian. I just pull up my slacks... Who else but a real librarian would wear librarian socks?

Pajama Day

I wish I could have taken a picture...
The first class tumbled into the library this morning - kindergarteners - every one of them in their warm pajamas! Nobody warned me it was pajama day.
Their pajamas were like a little pop-culture time capsule, with a few traditional fire engines and pretty flowers tossed in. They wore their big yellow spongebob-squarepants slippers and their giant Picachu slippers with the horns.
Were they ready to quiet down and cuddle up for a story?? Ha!

If only...

A skinny little first grader was poking at the picture books.
"I can't find the Dr. Seuss books" he complains.
"That's because you are looking in the 'C' shelves," I say. "You need to look under S for Seuss. See how these letters at the top of the shelf work? It's alphabetical."
I trail my hand along the shelf as I chant c, dee, ee ,eff, gee... and he follows me down the aisle until we reach "S".
"Well!" he says, as he plunks himself down on the floor beside the Seuss shelf. "That explains everything!"

A Mystery

Here is a photo I took yesterday - unedited, straight from the camera to the computer to you: Charles and Mimi are walking by the Serviceberry, which is topped with white blossoms. On the left side of the picture you see a skinny little tree.

But there is NO TREE there.

Here's a picture I took today in about the same place:

See? There's the Serviceberry. There's the edge of the garden fence. No little tree.
So...where did the little tree in the picture come from?????

Easter 09

Time for a celebration - let's get ready...

We need to dye the eggs (egg dye and decals from Germany, thank you Uncle Ralph!)










Gather some floowers from the yard.

Set the table -

find all the Easter decorations.




Let's get everyone together.

Put some food on the table



Traditional hot-cross buns and mimosas

Eggs, of course, in several forms...

All this fresh fruit,

salad and candy...

And, of course, Easter baskets

and Easter goodies




and the inevitable reference question

Let's look it up - where did the Easter Bunny come from?

It's a lovely day, let's take a stroll outside

a good place for conversations

and contemplating the pond.



Let's celebrate another Spring together....

Happy Easter everyone!

The Unexpected Beach House Amenity

He showed up when we were carrying in our luggage.He was aloof but interested, wondering what sort of folks were moving in.He was pleased to discover that we were the sort of people who put out bread for the birds. He was willing to demonstrate the entertainment value of the furniture.He carefully picked the chair in which he would be most visible.

But he just couldn't persuade us to open the door.

More than one person said "We should bring him home with us."

But he was right at home where he was.

Observation from the circulation desk

The fourth graders have pretty much finished checking out and are now hanging out waiting to line up and leave.
In front of the desk a serious girl is deep in conversation with a friend. She balances awkwardly on the edges of her giraffe patterned rubber rain boots. The short skirt of her soft green dress shows the knobby knees under her thick brown tights. She shakes her long hair back and staggers to the side. As she catches herself and goes back to balancing on the outsides of her feet, I see the book she's clutching: "On Pointe".
She'll grow into it.

April (snow) Showers

Yes, they said it was going to shower - I scoffed.

"Snow showers", they said.

"No way! It's April!" I said.

"Time for Spring rains, past time for snow."

But, sadly, they were right.

A surprise package

What's this? It's not my birthday.
But here's a big package at the door.


It has come a long way and is very well wrapped.

I need help getting it open.




There's lots and lots of wrapping inside - whatever it is must be fragile.

It takes me a while to carefully remove all the bubble wrap.







Wow, look at this lovely tray with tiles

painted with plums and peaches and cheeries and pears -

and this one - perfect for wine glasses!

Thank you, Vacationeers!

What a wonderful surprise! I will use these great trays to serve you something tasty when you visit!

You might not have noticed

In which we are all Rats

"The Rat ... stooped and unfastened a rope and hauled on it; then lightly stepped into a little boat which the Mole had not observed. It was painted blue outside and white within, and was just the size for two animals; and the Mole's whole heart went out to it at once, even though he did not yet fully understand its uses.

The Rat sculled smartly across and made fast. Then he held up his forepaw as the Mole stepped gingerly down. `Lean on that!' he said. `Now then, step lively!' and the Mole to his surprise and rapture found himself actually seated in the stern of a real boat.
`This has been a wonderful day!' said he, as the Rat shoved off and took to the sculls again. `Do you know, I`ve never been in a boat before in all my life.'

`What?' cried the Rat, open-mouthed: `Never been in a -- you never -- well I -- what have you been doing, then?'
`Is it so nice as all that?' asked the Mole shyly, though he was quite prepared to believe it as he leant back in his seat and surveyed the cushions, the oars, the rowlocks, and all the fascinating fittings, and felt the boat sway lightly under him.

`Nice? It's the only thing,' said the Water Rat solemnly, as he leant forward for his stroke. `Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -- absolute nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing,' he went on dreamily: `messing -- about -- in -- boats; messing -- -- '

`Look ahead, Rat!' cried the Mole suddenly.
It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt. The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air.

` -- about in boats -- or with boats,' the Rat went on composedly, picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. `In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it.

Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not.

Look here! If you've really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we ... have a long day of it?'

The Mole waggled his toes from sheer happiness, spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment, and leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions. `What a day I'm having!' he said. `Let us start at once!' "

Text from The Wind in The Willows, by Kenneth Grahame